Mahmoud Fathallah converted a controversial penalty to hand Zamalek a precious 1-0 victory at Ghazl Mahalla on Monday. The victory, their 11th under Hossam Hassan's management, helped Zamalek cement their position in second place on 46 points, three behind Ahli who have two games in hand. Mahalla remain 12th on 27 points, only three off the danger zone. Zamalek boss Hossam Hassan handed a rare start to midfielder Ahmed Abdul-Raouf, amid the suspensions of Hassan Mostafa and Ibrahim Salah. Mahalla were without striker Ahmed Hassan Farag, who is serving a three-match suspension. Penalty winner Shikabala was the first to have a shot on target when his 13th minute freekick was parried by goalkeeper Ibrahim Farag. Seconds later, Ahmed Gaafar won a clever penalty after he had beaten Mahalla's poor offside trap to go one on one with Farag, who hardly made contact with the Zamalek striker.
The referee pointed to the spot and Fathallah sent the keeper the wrong way to score against his old club for the second season in a row. Hussein Yasser tried his luck from 25 yards, but his ambitious effort went inches wide on the half-hour mark. Mahalla came close before half time when Mohamed Al-Etrawi's freekick was brilliantly saved by Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed. Poor second half The home side had another chance to equalize after the break, but Amr Ramadan missed in front of an empty net, in what proved to be Mahalla's best chance of the game. Despite the courageous start, both teams hardly produced a threat on goal for a long time and Al-Sayed was once again called into action in the 74th minute. The Zamalek skipper acrobatically denied Marzouk Salah's volley and Hossam Arafat had a chance to punish Mahalla on the counter, but his header forced an even better save from Farag. Minutes later, Gaafar's close range effort was blocked by Farag, who evidently made amends for the soft penalty he conceded. Zamalek got the three points but Gaafar's penalty will certainly be replayed over and over this week.
